The Penn Mining Company was established in 1896 by Pennsylvania investors in the Goat Lake district, northeast of the Monte Cristo Mining District in Snohomish County, Washington. Among the mines operated was the Foggy Mine. Penn Mining Company is listed in the city directories for 1897 with William M. Macintosh as president.

Most of the photographs in the Penn Mining Company album may actually have been taken by Siewart, who was the official photographer for the Everett and Monte Cristo Railway until 1898, when Kirk took over his work and put his name on the prints.